The Greatest Loss
by CrazyColey101
Summary: In a twisted turn to the fire at the end of the Greatest Showman, did everyone make it out? There was only one way to be sure. How would the peculiar circus family survive now their beloved home was gone.
1. Chapter 1

The once proudly standing PT Barnum Museum and Circus was slowly being burned to dust right before the peculiar performers eyes. No sooner than when the flames ignited, did it seem that all was lost. The horses and elephants paraded around in panic, trumpeting and rearing at the flames as they grew fiercer. The whole casts' eyes were wide in fear of what would become of their beloved home. The commotion was incredible, people had just finished pouring from the building as firemen began to attempt to extinguish the flames, though things were looking bleak. The final members of the circus who collapsed into their friends, and co-workers arms were those to be named as heroes; for they had managed to release almost all of the animals from their pens. Some would still be unlucky and perish with the building. Barnum and his family, their faces filled with devastation at their loss. How on earth would they be able to live with their business crumbling as it were? It was at this moment that W.D Wheeler noticed his sister was not among the crowd. He began to fear the worse, he turned to everyone "Where's Anne? Has anybody seen my sister?" his voice noticeably filled with shock and fear. The crew looked around trying to find her distinguishable curly locks, or even her pink wig, but she was nowhere to be seen. "She must still be in there!" He concluded as he attempted to break away from the performers. They held him back. Phillip's heart dropped out of his chest, he knew that he must do something in an attempt to find Anne, if he didn't he couldn't possibly live another day of his life. W.D was still fighting the grips of Lettie, Barnum and O'Clancy. Before anyone could decide any further, Phillip pulled off his suit jacket and began to sprint towards the inferno.

"Anne?" Phillip spluttered as he inhaled the thick black smog. It was blinding but he was determined to find her, and quickly. The building was creaking and burning slowly down to the ground, and he guessed he didn't have much time to find her before the ceiling con caved in on what potentially could be both of them. His mind raced, with adrenaline running rapid through his veins. "Anne? Where are you?" He yelled once more, using his suit jacket to protect himself from the flames. He was beginning to lose all hope. The only solution that he could think of was, as Anne, a great animal lover, she had stayed inside in order to rescue the remaining animals. It seemed obvious, when Phillip realised there was no neighing or whining that came from the back where the stables were.

Frantically he began to tear across to the far side of the building in hopes he would find her there, safe and alive. However his hopes would only be diminished when...


	2. Chapter 2

At last he noticed a human figure slumped alongside one of the stables door that was unbolted and swung wide open. At first he couldn't be certain if it were his beloved Anne, or another unfortunate performer who had been trapped in the blaze. He stood for a moment in trauma, Anne's beautiful, soft skin was thick with charcoal, her hair charred as the ends of her spiralling curls. The straw on the floor of the stables had already been burnt to nothing but ash, as Anne sat not moving amongst such a horrific scene. "Anne?" Phillip called, repeatedly, but she did not reply. His eyes began to form perfect silver tears, that ran down his cheeks, leaving trails where the smoke had been staining them. Phillip was filled with a tornado of emotion, but scooped up Anne wrapping her shawl over her, followed by his jacket. He put his emotion aside and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then he headed towards the back door, when the creaking of the supports of the circus began to louden, until they began to topple to the floor. He increased his pace, ensuring to protect Anne from the worst of the flames, until he finally reached the back door and kicked it open wide. The ceiling soon caved in behind him and with relief he took a deep breath of air filling his smoked filled lungs.

From the outside, the crowd and performers waited anxiously for the appearance of who they hoped would both be Phillip and Anne, however things did not look positive. W.D was still fighting his coworkers to run inside and assist Phillip in finding his sister, however Barnum would not allow another of his performers to be inside the crumbling building. The ceiling could no longer withstand the heat of the flames, and as it fell to the ground the now large crowd gasped in shock. W.D began yelling, screaming, crying for his sister to be okay. Others were praying on behalf of Phillip who had so courageously entered the building to save Anne. It wasn't until a few moments later that a man with charcoal smeared cheeks and a frail limp body in his arms appeared from around the back of the building.

"Phillip! Anne!" Lettie yelled as the crowd cheered in amazement of the revelation of the pair. It was almost a miracle.

However things would soon go from bad to even worst, this was only the beginning.

Phillip coughed and gagged, his lungs burnt, his heart raced like a train in his chest. His eyes quickly glanced around at everyone staring before hurrying Anne safely into the cotton stretcher that awaited them. His hands screamed at the release of the weight of her fragile body, stinging also from the burns he had received. W.D stood among the crowd not saying a word, just staring, obviously in deep shock. Everyone began to ask what had happen and if he was okay, but Phillip shook his head, unable to produce any words besides "I'm fine."

Once Anne was on her way to get the care she required, and the fire began to die down as the building had been reduced to nothing but rubble, everyone finally felt some relief. Though this would only be the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. It was such a disappointment to see the single thing that had given them their confidence to embrace their differences, gone so easily. So unjustly.

W.D was the first to speak after it all, he headed towards Phillip whom was sat on the edge of the cobbled sidewalk, unable to remove those horrific images from his head. The two men were then sat beside one another. W.D began to speak, his voice unusually quiet for himself "I owe you man. You saved my sister. I can never repay you," he continued patting Phillip on the back. However, it was almost as if Phillip didn't acknowledge him, until he grunted a quiet thank you in reply. The small, yet courageous Tom Thumb, then broke the tension between the group, "If all of you are just gonna sit here wondering what's going on with Anne why don't you just go see for yourself?" Phillip nodded. "I think your right…" The rest of the performers mumbled and grumbled in agreement, though they knew they couldn't all go. He turned to face W.D, "You coming?" He shook his head in reply. "I can't see her like that. You go ahead. I'll see what we can salvage here with Barnum and the rest of the group once the embers have died down. We've nowhere else to go. This was our home." Before anyone could say another word, Phillip walked alone down the street, straightening his shirt and brushing his trousers down before walking down the street towards the main hospital, though with the way most people viewed people like Anne, (Unless they'd seen the show of course) there was no telling of the quality of care she would receive. Phillip pulled a roll of money from his pockets, amazed it had been able to survive the heat of the flames, and began to count before realising he'd give it all away in a heartbeat if it ensured Anne would be okay.


End file.
